In the round-up: McLaren SP expect to extend IndyCar race-winner Pato O’Ward’s contract in the near future.
In brief
New McLaren deal close for O’Ward
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said an agreement for Pato O’Ward’s future with the team in IndyCar was “imminent” and that “we’re going to be together for many more years.”
O’Ward took his first win of the season for the team at the last round in Alabama. “He did an awesome job in Barber and he’s now a McLaren driver and it’s up to him and Andreas [Seidl] to decide on the Formula 1 side what the opportunities for testing may be.”
Having tested McLaren’s MCL35M in Abu Dhabi last year, O’Ward is one of several drivers under consideration to drive for the F1 team in the two obligatory free practice session outings for rookies later this year.
“There’s a note from F1 that said this year, they’re obliged by the regulations to test young drivers two times in free practice and that’s why we have kind of a selection process in place, whom we actually want to give the chance to be in the car for these two or three practice sessions,” said Seidl in response to a question from RaceFans.
“In order to make the selection we have now this year for the possibility to use the TPC [Testing of Previous Cars] car to give young guys a chance to show what they can do in a Formula 1 car and time in order to prepare them as good as possible for this testing. And then we will make up our mind who in the end gets the free practice sessions.”
McLaren fifth-fastest team after Miami – Norris
McLaren’s Lando Norris believes the team to be fifth-fastest, behind Mercedes and Alfa Romeo as well as the two top teams of Ferrari and Red Bull.
Norris admitted that it was “tough to know exactly what we’re going to do from this weekend,” in terms of developing McLaren’s car before Barcelona. But that “We’re behind Mercedes, behind Alfa Romeo but we really could fight with Alpine and AlphaTauri. Haas…